*FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE * **Sen. Carter Files Bill to Make Computer Science a Core Part of Colorado Schools **

DENVER — State Senator Jordan Carter today filed legislation to make computer science and STEM a required part of Colorado's K-8 core curriculum and to require every high school student to earn at least one coding-inclusive computer science credit to graduate.

"The jobs our kids will compete for will demand fluency in technology," said Carter. "Every child in Colorado—from Denver to the Eastern Plains—deserves to leave school knowing how the digital world works and how to build in it. This isn't a luxury subject. It's a core skill, and it's time we treated it like one."

The bill weaves STEM learning into every grade, K through 8, instead of leaving it to a district's resources, and guarantees students graduate with real, hands-on coding experience.

"When we teach a kid to code, we're giving them a tool to start a business, modernize a farm, or bring opportunity home," Carter said. "A Colorado that leads in technology has to start in our classrooms."

Carter urged colleagues across the aisle to back the measure, calling it "a commonsense investment in our kids and our economy."